Marsha J. Evans, President of the American Red Cross

Wed, June 29, 2005

DomPrep.com’s John F. Morton and Martin Masiuk met with Retired Navy Rear Adm. Marsha J. Evans in June 2005 at the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Admiral Evans detailed the Red Cross organizational linkages with DHS and State/Local EOCs for response planning. She also outlined a new initiative for community-based preparedness training and the mechanisms through which the American Red Cross (ARC) is developing the mass-care support function in local response planning.

Admiral Evans highlights the significance of this September’s National Preparedness Month as illustrative of the American Red Cross (ARC) partnership with DHS to develop preparedness at all levels. She also speaks of the NGO role in the development of HSPD-8 and the National Preparedness Goal.

Admiral Evans stresses the Red Cross role as a primary agency for mass care under Emergency Support Function 6 (ESF #6) – Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services – in the National Response Plan. She also outlines the linkages between the Red Cross and its Disaster Operations Center at ARC Headquarters and the Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC) at DHS as well the linkages to state and local EOCs.

Admiral Evans discusses the Red Cross NGO training contract with Pearson Performance Solutions. She comments on Red Cross participation in the TOPOFF exercises as well as the ARC’s embrace of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and how it will facilitate further collaboration between Red Cross and first responders.

Admiral Evans predicts that NGOs will increasingly take part in the response planning process. Given its lead role for mass care, the Red Cross now has over 80 formal memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with other NGOs as well as business partners. Admiral Evans talks of the development of the Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN) and, under the NRP’s Catastrophic Incident Annex/Supplement (CIA/S), the Red Cross development of the Mass Care Catastrophic Planning Initiative.

Martha Johnson Evans

President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross

Marsha Johnson Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross. As President and CEO, Evans leads an organization that, last year alone, assisted the victims of more than 70,000 natural and human-caused disasters, from single family fires to large-scale events such as hurricanes, floods, or acts of terrorism; collected and processed 7.2 million blood donations, nearly half the nation's blood supply; trained almost 12 million people in lifesaving skills such as first aid and CPR; transmitted 14 million emergency messages for more than half a million military families; and responded to international humanitarian emergencies such as unsafe, non-potable water, mass starvation, and life-threatening diseases such as measles.
Evans brings an impressive array of experience to her position at the Red Cross – not the least of which is a 29-year career with the U.S. Navy. As a Navy officer, Evans held a variety of command positions overseeing multi-million dollar budgets and thousands of employees. She served as superintendent of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where she led an effort to restructure and adapt educational programs to better meet demands on incoming officers. She also held the position of chief of staff at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and commanding officer of the Treasure Island Naval Station, where she directed Navy personnel and civilians in support of Navy operating forces and families in the San Francisco Bay Area. After an extremely successful career, she retired in 1998 as a rear admiral; one of very few women to reach this rank.